Entertainment

We have found that staying awake is easier when we are watching a great movie…. or a really fun movie. We are drawn to the animated children’s movies, as a rule. Films like Tangled, Toy Story or the Ice Age films are almost always a guaranteed hit. Other non-animated kids movies, such as the newer version of Peter Pan, Babe or Nim’s Island are also great choices. They have plots that are easy to follow and, when she can’t follow the plots any more, Mom enjoys the large gesture laughs and the goofy situations. She enjoys the whimsy of animals talking, or children flying and delightedly fighting pirates. She can watch them over and over again and enjoy them just like it was the first time she’s seen them. She will also marvel each “first time” that I know all the words to the little songs in the movies…  Yes, a good old children’s movie works wonders for a sleepy mind.

However, nothing works like the great old movies that she has known and loved for years. Doris Day, Errol Flynn or one of those great old musicals will keep her smiling and singing along in delight. The old movies are the ones she loved when she was young, that she watched with my dad and that she still recognizes when she doesn’t remember the person with whom she was just talking. Oh, did I mention that the best movies, the movies she remembers so well that she will stay up late to watch them, would be anything with John Wayne in it?!  Well I should have. She wanted to go to bed at 4:00 and here we are, 3 hours later and one and a half John Wayne movies in and she’s wide awake and unwilling to go to bed until John Wayne saves the day! She may not remember which movie it is, but she does remember that John Wayne will always save the day!